When experienced neighbors have seen our kids, teetering on their bicycles and alighting in tangles of weeds and brambles, this wisdom bubbles up: take the pedals off of the bike. Lower the seat so your child’s feet can easily reach the ground. Let them scoot along, and before long, they’ll be balancing. Then they can learn to pedal.

For the youngest cyclists-in-training, pedal-less bikes are available in teeny sizes. Kids who start off by learning to walk and then getting on a tiny pedal-less bike will likely never need training wheels. These bikes come in eye-candy colors and designs, and kids and parents will agree that they are a fine thing to have around the house or driveway.

Strider Balance Bike
This bike is light and small enough to pop in the car, and can fit a child aged 1 to 5 years. (Click here for short films of kids cruising along on their bikes–funnier than a chipmunk singing Christmas carols!) The seat is only eleven inches off the ground, so if someone were to, say, fall off the bike, no major harm would be done. This is the only bike of its type that has built-in foot rests (such as you would find on a Harley, but way tiny) to encourage young riders to lift their feet up from the ground and coast. It’s tough enough to fling around, and if you leave it outside in the rain, no harm done.The details: Available at Strider Sports. For kids up to 50 pounds. Available in a rainbow of pleasing colors. $98.Early Rider
Would Charles and Ray Eames have festooned their bent plywood chairs with flames if they had seen this? Not just beautiful to behold, this little wooden treat is also sturdy and easy to ride. The seat is covered with a supple leather cushion, about the size of a small loaf of naan, that keeps a child’s tush comfortable. This bike is so well-designed, we like it enough not to be annoyed when it brings its rider racing through the kitchen over and over, and over again. Although this is an English bicycle, it should not go out in the rain.The details: Available in the U.S. online at the Early Rider Store.
$179.99 Classic (for kids ages 2 to 5). $159.99 Lite (for smaller riders, ages 2 to 4)

Katy Killilea lives in Barrington with her husband, their sons (2001 + 2003), and a dog named Grover. Katy loves reading, cooking, loud pants, the Beehive in Bristol, and learning everything she can about Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. She says more about that at Bigfoot Child Have Diabetes.

We brought one from Germany. It’s wonderful, kids learn to balance on it instead of leaning into the wrong direction while going around the corner right away. Emma, just turned 4 in Feb is already riding her new bike without training wheels, the transition took 5 minutes and 2 falls.

What a sad commentary on society that we think it’s a good thing that these bikes give kids confidence by virtually removing any chance of falling! If there’s no or very little chance of falling, what is there to feel confident about?! How silly.

There are many children with gross motor skill development issues that these bikes would be great for. Maybe people should refrain from the comments mocking them. Some mothers would love nothing more than for their children to experience “real life” on a “real bike” but their child may not have that luxury.

We bent the training wheels up on my sons’ bike (bought from a yard sale) so they got used to riding their bikes with less fear of falling over yet giving them the confidence to try “balancing”. We kept bending up the training wheels and soon the boys were riding their bikes without the training wheels ever touching the ground. Once we took off the training wheels it was no big deal. This way worked for us.

This is the first unkind words I have ever read on this website. I have a total grip and made the bike comments because I found your comments about how other mothers did things judgmental and was just trying to show a different point. Guess you can’t handle a difference of opinion. Sad to say such unkind words as a fellow Mom.